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Election to shape Army's future

'I believe the Army is in a position of strength,” Gen. Ray Odierno said. | Reuters

“I think what we’ll do is let the analysts put the final pencil to the paper on whether that number looks like 670,000 or what it is,” Franks went on. “What is settled in the first place is do you choose to make a reduction of end strength in a time of war or do you choose to either hold steady or increase? Gov. Romney has chosen to increase, and the number that’s been laid out is 100,000.”

This kind of talk, obviously, is good news for the Army, for which force structure — numbers of people — is the coin of the realm, even over and above big weapons programs.

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The Romney campaign has made big promises to the Navy, too, vowing to build 15 warships a year, compared with the current nine, and develop at least two whole new classes of ships. But those are potential additions down the line. Romney’s promises for the Army would let it keep the forces it already has.

Here’s the rub: With scant details about how he’d run the Pentagon or how he’d pay for it, few of Washington’s defense insiders of either party take Romney’s defense budget proposals seriously, other than as a general affirmation of support for the Pentagon.

“This is a vision, details are to follow — that’s the most charitable interpretation of it you can give,” said Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the left-leaning National Security Network. “A less charitable one is a number of these proposals, like the ‘100,000 troops,’ are left over from [Romney’s] 2008 campaign. This all grows out of a political desire to project strength but in a very limited way without having given thought to all the tools of American strength. There just has been so little substantive discussion of what the 4 percent is for, what the troops are for, what the ships are for, that it’s really hard to come up with a good-faith assumption that they really mean it.”

So the Army’s view of its future only gets murkier. It could be in for what its former chief of staff and now the current Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Martin Dempsey, once sarcastically called a “soft landing” in a second Obama term — or in a new Romney administration. Or it could keep its force or even grow in a Romney Pentagon.

Looming above all those different scenarios is the threat of automatic, across-the-board sequestration spending cuts that could take effect Jan. 2. Army leaders say they aren’t planning to have to take those cuts, but they’ve warned that if the cuts take effect, it could cost another 100,000 soldiers on top of the 80,000 now scheduled to leave the force.

Army Secretary John McHugh said there is no way the service can remain immune from the financial head winds that have buffeted the U.S. so the Army’s mission now must be to do what it always has: adapt.

With proposals to bring its active and reserve components closer together, as well as to re-examine the structure and placement of its units, McHugh argued that whatever happens, the Army needs to get a head start.

“What keeps me up at night is our nation’s economy and how it already has and will continue to impact our budget,” he said Monday. “For the Army, that means coming to terms with equal doses of reality and available resources: The reality is that after 11 years of war, the Army is going to have to do its job with less. The good news is … we’ve already started.

“This wasn’t something that was driven onto our doorsteps, put upon us by sudden fluctuations with the stock market,” he added. “We’ve seen this day coming for some time.”

Readers' Comments (21)

Obama's agenda for our military services is social engineering.experimentation. The dumbing down of our military in the name of diversity. All ready in process. Commissioning of academically unqualified individuals as officers in the name of diversity. Ooops, he's already started do that, Forcing same sex sodomy upon our military. Ooops, he's already done that.

Lets try again. Obama wants to take away soldiers and Marines bayonets because Obama believes they are rarely used. Obama wants to establish FREE GUN ZONES on military bases. Ooops, he already started doing that. Michelle Obama doesn't want red meat served in military mess halls but lots of rabbit food instead. What ? It's already being initiated at army basic training installations. Obama believes urinals are sexes and should be eliminated on warships. I got the word, no more urinals on any new ships being built for the Navy. Obama wants gender friendly heads on all navy ships. I understand, hundreds of millions of dollars are already being spent on converting heads in to same sex heads. Obama wants to reclassify navy hospital ships as part of the navy's battle fleet so the fleet looks larger than it really is. Ooops, he's already done that.

One more try. Obama wants the navy to spend $27 per gallon for green fuel instead of $3.70 per gallon for fossil fuels to power it's ships and aircraft. I got the word, it's already being done. Obama wants to build new barracks and facilities for billeting the 3rd Mar Div. on the island of Guam. Interesting, they weren't built because the money was spent on social engineering projects instead.

Last try. Obama wants to force politically correct Rules of Engagement upon our troops who are in combat that benefits the enemy. That our troops can't shoot at the enemy until the enemy shoots at them. I know, he's already done it in Afghanistan.

Obama believes that the U.S. military should be no stronger than any other military in the world. That the military main priority should be social engineering. Obama wants to feminize our military and unionize the troops.

There are no "budget cuts" only a budget freeze.(Aside from sequester which Paul Ryan and 187 other republicans signed)

Mr "I can fix the budget" says he will magically come up with an additional $2trilion for the military This CANNOT be done done without increasing both the deficit and the debt. But lying is second nature to Mr Romney these days

The Panderer-in-Chief obviously just wants votes out of Norfolk, VA. But don't worry, he'll change his position again tomorrow. One thing is certain. Romney is always willing to make 180 shifts in his "core beliefs". LOL. Romney foreign policy is now apparently "What he said".

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"The biggest mistake the President made was setting a timeline in Afghanistan. The Taliban may not have watches, but they have calendars." - Mitt Romney 2 weeks ago

"As President I will end the war in Afghanistan by 2014" - Mitt Romney last night

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How can anyone think that a spineless jello-molded shape shifer who has no conviction to anything but his own ambition would be a good leader?

The President has EARNED the right to lead. He has been steady and consistent and taken us from disaster to stabilty.

There are no "budget cuts" only a budget freeze.(Aside from sequester which Paul Ryan and 187 other republicans signed)

Obama has already slashed almost $480 Billion Dollars from the military budget. Why do you think that pilots are only able to fly from 2 or 3 of 5 scheduled flight training missions because of the lack of funding for fuel or spare parts ? Why do you think that 22 % of the navy's ships in the fleet can't put to sea and fight ? Because of the lack of funding for maintenance

That $27 per gallon of green fuel that Obama is forcing the Navy to use to power their ships and aircraft instead of the $3.70 per gallon of the normal fuel that they use to use, the money to pay for that fuel had to be taken away from some other part of the military.

I still want to know what happened to the tens of millions of dollars that Congress appropriated for building the facilities on Guam for the 3rd Mar Div went. Obama never built the facilities, so where did the money go ? Probably for gay sensitivity training and converting heads on navy ships so they are gender friendly

We wont find out how much damage Obama has done to our national security and the military until Obama is out of the White House.

What is really scary, starting next year the first of Obama's Moron Officer Corps will be entering the active duty military and start leading our young soldiers, Marines and sailors in to combat all in the name of social engineering.

Truer words were never spoken. If Odumbo is re-elected there will be no Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. By the end of his second term he will be able to turn out the lights and had the keys to China, Russia and Iran on his way out the door.

Having recently served in OEF/OIF the military is stronger than its been 20 years ago.

Better trained, better equiped, and our reruits are smarter than they ever have been. Most officers have graduate degrees and the vast majority of our enlisted have not only finished high school but have some college. We have not lowered standards for minorities. We integrated race in the Army before I was even born.

We have been integrating women and homosexuals for most of my career (I came in in the early 90's). Started under Clinton in 93, continued by Bush. Nothing really new here and it has gone well.

Was never even issued a bayonet for OEF/OIF. They don't work well on the short barrel of an M4. The Marines carry them more for esprit de corps than as a function. The last successful bayonet charge was in Korea.

We need more "rabbit food" as servicemembers are getting fatter just like the rest of society.

We currently have a larger deep water Navy than the rest of the world combined.

We all want a good defense for our country. But considering our military budget is about as much as the most of the rest of the world combined it seems a bit overkill. So unless we are going to "take on" the world we may be a little over equipped. What we need is not as much as smart.. We are not fighting the wars that the military was hugely increased for, we are not even fighting countries. The real threat is cyber attacks and al qaeda type cells of USA haters. The problem with the military is that it is too big to fail just like all the major banks etc. It is a jobs program. Not all of it of course but a good chunk of it.There is no bigger welfare system than the "military industrial complex" and if cuts are needed to deal with the deficit the military budget should be the first place we look for serious deductions. I hear some military people and Panetta say don't cut, but nobody wants their budget cut… the lobbyists for the Boeing types are powerful and they dictate our politics and they especially own the republicans. There are way more failed military projects than Solyndras( http://oilprice.com/Energy/Ene... )( http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit... ). So lets work on smart, not quantity.

OBAMA FIDDLED AS BENGHAZI BURNED – President Refused to Call in Troops From Italy One Hour Away

Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 9:12 AM

** White House officials watched the terror strike live by unmanned Predator drone ** White House knew Al-Qaeda linked group was behind terror strike at 6:07 PM EST on 9-11 ** An estimated 300 to 400 ‘national security figures’ received emails from Libya day of attack ** US Troops in Italy were not called in to rescue officials ** 200 attacks in Benghazi before 9-11 ** The Obama Administration was concerned using troops from Italy would violate Libyan sovereignty So Obama "optimized" the Ambassador and three americans and the "BLATANTLY LIED " and said it was a movie - Obama then had his "thugs" arrest, detain and put a kill me sign around the guy that made the video.

I hope Congressperson Issa or Senator McCain will ask Joint Chiefs General Dempsey why and when he called the Florida minister to talk about the 13 minute video? Did the White House demand Dempsey call to aid the cover up of Benghazigate? If Dempsey gave in then he has no independence. It is a crime for a military member to intimidate a civilian. If Dempsey actually thought the video was a significant factor in the attack then he should go to because he has no clue on our defense needs and the reality of terrorism. How could a "mob" zero in mortar rounds on our compound, for example? He should know better. Look at the emails that came out just today.

Was never even issued a bayonet for OEF/OIF. They don't work well on the short barrel of an M4. The Marines carry them more for esprit de corps than as a function. The last successful bayonet charge was in Korea.

Actually the last bayonet attack was in Afghanistan by British forces. There was also a British bayonet attack during the Falklands war. American soldiers and Marines fixed bayonets numerous of times during the Vietnam war. It's just not an offensive weapon but a defensive weapon.

The bayonet serves a purpose even if never used, it gives the soldier a psychological edge in combat. Been there done that.

It's the army not the Marines who aren't properly training their troops. The army still hasn't adopted the policy that the Marine Corps has had for over 200 years, "Every Marine is a rifleman." Even a Marine FA-18 fighter pilot is a qualified rifle platoon leader.

SIMPLY AMAZING WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT Isn't it amazing that, within only one week of Tiger Woods crashing his Escalade, the press found every woman with whom Tiger has had an affair during the last few years? And, they even uncovered photos, text messages, recorded phone calls, etc.! Furthermore, they not only know the cause of the family fight, but they even know it was a 9 iron from his golf bag that his wife used to break out the windows in the Escalade. Not only that, they know which wedge! And, each & every day, they were able to continue to provide America with updates on Tiger's sex rehab stay, his wife's divorce settlement figures, as well as the dates & tournaments in which he was to play. Now, Barack Hussein Obama has been in office for over three years, yet this very samepress: ·Cannot find any of his childhood friends or neighbors; ·Or find any of Obama's high school or college classmates; ·Or locate any of his college papers or grades; ·Or determine how he paid for both a Columbia & a Harvard education; ·Or discover which country issued his visa to travel to Pakistan in the 1980's; ·Or even find Michelle Obama's Princeton thesis on racism. They just can't seem to uncover any of this. Yet, the public still trusts that same press to give them the whole truth! Don't you find that totally amazing ? NOW TELL ME THERE IS NO CORRUPTION IN THE AMERICAN PRESS.. You can not get the water to clear up until you get the pigs out of the creek.

Obama's approval rating among the troops as their Cn'C is the lowest in modern times, at 21.72 %. Why do you think Jimmy Carter has had a smile on his face for the past few years ? Moral is lower today in our services than four years ago. 22 % of the navy's ships can't put to sea and fight because this administration has allowed our fleet to fall apart, basically no funding for maintenance but they have the money for social engineering projects.

BTW: The best equip, trained and motivated military was Reagan's military. It was Reagan's military who G.H. Bush (41) sent in to Iraq during the first Gulf war. G.H. Bush was able to put 500,000 American boots on the ground in Iraq, that was Reagan's military.

G.W. Bush (43) had to go to war with Clinton's military and could only put 200,000 boots on the ground. That's why during Saddam Hussein interrogation by the FBI, Hussain said he thought Bush was bluffing, that nobody would attack and invade Iraq with just 200,000 troops. Bush wasn't bluffing. The only problem was, 200,000 troops wasn't enough to occupy Iraq after the mission of regime change was accomplished. The rest is history of what happened when the U.S. military was over downd during the 1990's.

When Romney occupies the White House, he's going to discover that we all ready have a hollow military force. It will cost trillions to repair the damage that Obama has inflicted on our national defense.It happened before when Reagan became POTUS, it was already known by 1979 we had a hollowed military but we didn't discover how bad it was until Reagan entered the White House.

TheEducatedPatriot: Oct. 24, 2012 - 7:51 AM EST

Most officers have graduate degrees

The Obama administration is in the process of dumbing down the Officers Corps in the name of diversity. In fact the first of Obama's Moron Officers Corps will be graduating from our service academies in 2013.

TheEducatedPatriot: Oct. 24, 2012 - 7:51 AM EST

We have been integrating women and homosexuals for most of my career (I came in in the early 90's). Started under Clinton in 93, continued by Bush. Nothing really new here and it has gone well.

Social engineering. Rapes now a problem when a few decades ago they weren't. With the repeal of DADT, homo sexual rapes are now being reported according to the Army Gold Book.

You are aware the survey that the troops took in regards to DADT, the numbers were cooked according to the IG of the DoD. And even worse, the Obama White House had the results of the survey before the survey was handed out to the troops.

Actually the last bayonet attack was in Afghanistan by British forces. There was also a British bayonet attack during the Falklands war. American soldiers and Marines fixed bayonets numerous of times during the Vietnam war. It's just not an offensive weapon but a defensive weapon.

Remember we are talking about the US Army. According to Army historians, the bayonet was last relevant in Korea. As of 2011, the Army stopped issuing bayonets to deployed troops. So Obama is essentially correct to say that we don't have as many bayonets as we used (notice he didn't say none, just less).

Personally, I wish they still issued sabers.

The Marine Corps will continue to do their own thing as they always have. The majority of our ground combat force has been and will always be the Army.

The Obama administration is in the process of dumbing down the Officers Corps in the name of diversity. In fact the first of Obama's Moron Officers Corps will be graduating from our service academies in 2013.

Do you have any actual data to support "morons" are attending our service academies? Last I checked they still have an average SAT higher than 90% of the population and still are among the most selective of colleges. Also the minority status of cadets and midshipmen have not changed in the past four years.

Reagan's military was big. But not real effective. See Grenada and to a lesser extent Panama.

I served during Desert Storm as well. Probably our easiest war in our history. We had more troops than we knew what to do with. Our opening attack in OIF went well too. Its the occupation that was messy.

If Rumsfeld wanted more than 200K in OIF, he could have got it. That was less than 20% of our forces. He was the one who believed in less is more. He was the architect of the smaller, high tech military which doesn't work so well for occupations/nation building.

Rape is an issue because we made it one. It wasn't any less in the 80s. Its just now we report it. Our military has less than the sexual assault rates reported for college.

Do you have any actual data to support "morons" are attending our service academies?

It's a phrase being used with in the military today, "Obama's Moron Officers Corps." It was borrowed from "McNamara's Moron Corps" from the Vietnam war when liberals decided to use the military for social engineering and came up with "Project 100,000." There's a lot of blood on the hands of liberals with that stupid social engineering experiment.

In 2009 Obama lowered the academic standards for minorities who wanted to become officers. White candidates are still required to meet the high academic standards that have been in place for decades. Minorities are now exempt in the name of diversity.

Earlier this year the Obama White House thought that Navy SEAL's were to white. The reason why there are very few black SEAL's is because most blacks aren't strong swimmers. The Obama administration actually wanted the Navy to accept blacks who couldn't swim in to Navy SEAL training in the name of diversity. The real Navy shot it down.

The point is, liberals believe that the purpose of the military is for social engineering experimentation. And when our military is sent in to harms way they tie an arm behind the backs of our soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen with politically correct rules that cause our military to bleed and die.

However, if you check a box indicating you are African-American, Hispanic, Native American or Asian, writes Fleming, "SAT scores to the mid 500s with quite a few Cs in classes … typically produces a vote of ‘qualified’ … with direct admission to Annapolis. They’re in and given a pro forma nomination to make it legit." ">